It turns out that Bob Mansfield, in addition to others, simply wasn’t a fan of Forstall’s way of doing things. Indeed, his decision to come back out of retirement and return to Apple for two years was due, in part, to Forstall’s impending departure.

As one source close to the company told AllThingsD, “The timing of Bob’s return is not coincidental.”

To begin, Mansfield was not a fan of Forstall’s confrontational management style, and sources said he generally tried to avoid the iOS exec. Indeed, Bloomberg last year reported that Mansfield would meet with Forstall only if Cook was present to mediate. I’ve heard many similar stories.

“It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s ouster. “But, put it this way, I think Bob was much more willing to commit to two more years once he knew Scott was on his way out.”

It’s also been reported previously that Jony Ives and Forstall also didn’t see eye to eye on a number of issues.